All programmes > Programme > Course of study : Master of Psychology: Theory and Research (Leuven)

Master of Psychology: Theory and Research (Leuven) (120 ECTS) Master of Science

 

Students with a degree obtained at an institution of the Flemish Community

The admission requirements for the 2025-2026 programme remain the same and can be consulted in the tab "Admission requirements 2024-2025".



Students with a degree not obtained at an institution of the Flemish Community

The admission requirements for the 2025-2026 programme remain the same and can be consulted in the tab "Admission requirements 2024-2025".

Students with a degree obtained at an institution of the Flemish Community

After admission procedure

Students who hold a Flemish degree can apply for permission by filling in the following form  http://ppw.kuleuven.be/home/english/student-portal/forms/admissionform/.

Students who have proof of English proficiency (see additional information), will be granted direct admission to the master programme.

On the basis of the following degrees, or similar degrees, obtained at an institution of the Flemish Community:

  • Bachelor in de onderwijskunde (Kortrijk)
  • Bachelor in de psychologie (Leuven)



Students who did not obtain above mentioned degree do not have direct access, but can apply for the programme by following the admissions procedure:

  • - a motivation letter of max. 1 page, indicating your interest and fit with the programme, and your experience or affinity with psychological research (for an overview of the diversity of research pursued at our faculty, visit http://ppw.kuleuven.be/home/english/research
  • - a complete transcript of academic records, including a complete list of courses for which credit was obtained (including the number of ECTS) and all associated marks, preferably following the ECTS scale. If another scale is used, a table with the grading marks and evaluation criteria should be included
  • - a separate document that describes your background and training in mathematics and statistics (starting in high school) and that lists all followed statistics and methods courses and associated grades (including scores on standard mathematics or abstract reasoning proficiency tests, if available). Fill in this form and add it to your online application
  • -  proof of English proficiency

After a bridging programme

Students who have proof of English proficiency (see additional information), will be granted direct admission to the master programme.

After successfully completing the bridging programme: Master in de psychologie (Leuven, Kortrijk), the following degrees are accepted:

- Assistenten in de psychologie
- Bachelors in de toegepaste psychologie

After an abridged programme

Students who have proof of English proficiency (see additional information), will be granted direct admission to the master programme.

On the basis of the following degrees, or similar degrees, obtained at an institution of the Flemish Community:

  • After successfully completing the abridged programme: Bachelor in de psychologie (na toelating) ( Leuven, 58 sp. ) , the following degrees are accepted:
    • Bachelor in de wijsbegeerte (Leuven) (Optie psychologie)


After successfully completing the abridged programme: Bachelor in de psychologie (na toelating) (Leuven, 123 sp.), the following degrees are accepted:
list of degrees

Additional information

Proof of English proficiency:

  • •  TOEFL: minimum score of 100 overall, with a minimum of following subscores: reading ≥ 19; listening ≥ 20; speaking ≥ 20; writing ≥ 24
  • •  IELTS Academic: minimum score of 7 overall, with no subscore below 6.5
  • •  Cambridge Assessment English: minimum score of 185 overall, with no subscore below 180.



Students with a degree not obtained at an institution of the Flemish Community

Students who did not obtain their previous degree(s) at an institution of the Flemish Community should submit an application via the Admissions Office: https://www.kuleuven.be/english/application/.
You can find a list of core documents, which should be submitted with every application, here: https://www.kuleuven.be/english/application/requesteddocuments.

Diploma requirements

To be eligible and to ensure an optimal match with the programme, the following selection criteria apply:
  • - holder of a Bachelor or Master's degree in the field of Humanities (e.g. Psychology) or in the field of Science and Technology
  • - a strong background in statistics and research methods
  • - clear affinity with psychological research

Language requirements

  • - TOEFL: minimum score of 100 overall, with a minimum of following subscores: reading ≥ 19; listening ≥ 20; speaking ≥ 20; writing ≥ 24
  • - IELTS Academic: minimum score of 7 overall, with no subscore below 6.5
  • - Cambridge Assessment English: minimum score of 185 overall, with no subscore below 180.


For students who hold a prior degree awarded by an English-speaking university from Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom or the United States, the certified diploma and transcripts suffice provided they confirm that the entire (university-level) course of study was completed in English (with at least 1 year full time study period in one of these countries). Absolutely no other diplomas will be accepted as evidence even if the applicant has followed an exclusively English-taught programme.

Additional requirements

All interested applicants should provide the following documents in their admission procedure:
  • -  a separate document that describes your background and training in mathematics and statistics (starting in high school) and that lists all followed statistics and methods courses and associated grades (including scores on standard mathematics or abstract reasoning proficiency tests, if available). Fill in this form and add it to your online application.
  • - a motivation letter of max. 1 page, indicating your interest and fit with the programme, and your experience or affinity with psychological research (for an overview of the diversity of research pursued at our faculty, visit http://ppw.kuleuven.be/home/english/research
  • -  a complete transcript of academic records, including a complete list of courses for which credit was obtained (including the number of ECTS) and all associated marks, preferably following the ECTS scale. If another scale is used, a table with the grading marks and evaluation criteria should be included

Additional information

All requested documents need to be submitted through the online application system before the deadline in order to be eligible. Applications that are not complete after the deadline will not be further considered.

All applications will be reviewed by the Admissions Office of KU Leuven (phase 1) and Application Commission of the Master programme (phase 2). The board of admission carefully considers all applicants who have provided all required documents.

  • - If the board of admission evaluates the application file positive (which means they are convinced that there is an optimal match between the Master’s programme and the educational background of the applicant), the applicant will be granted direct access to the Master’s programme.
  • - If the board of admissions evaluates the application as promising to be a good fit with the programme, but thinks important elements are still missing in the educational background and level of the applicant, the applicant will be eligible to start the preparatory programme 60 ECTS  that after successful completion grants direct access to the master’s programme.
  • - If the board of admission evaluates the educational background as insufficient to guarantee a good match with the programme, the application will be declined.

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